Jerome, are you for real??? gerg and Marie's Halloween weekend

First of all, congrats to the Packers! I'm a sconnie bitch. Therefore, I represent for the Pack.

The weekend was packed full of goofy bits of shenanigans. On Friday night, gerg and I dolled ourselves up as Mork & Mindy and headed to a haunted house in St. Paul. Unfortunately, the haunted house failed to haunt us. The good news is that seville and wife Brandi joined us for the adventure. Seville's costume was a cinch, since he's probably the long lost twin of Project Runway's JAY!

After the not-so-haunted haunting, we beelined for the Town Talk Diner...we skipped supper to costume ourselves. Gerg devoured most of the Kitchen Sink burger and I delighted in the tempeh sandwich, seville smiled at himself with the grilled cheese, and Brandi nibbled on frickles and a beet salad. Thumbs up around that table. Seriously, folks, if you haven't sampled something at this joint, you've gotta check it out. The cocktail menu is expansive, and the bartenders delight in inventing customized cocktails. gerg is an old fashioned man; the bartenders whipped up an "old fashioned" martini for him not too long ago that was delightful and BOOZEY. Don't ignore the Adult Malts or the champagne service for 40's of High Life.

Headed back to Wisco for a cousin's wedding on Saturday. In Halloween-style, the groom was a swashbuckling musketeer, and the bride was a perfect princess. My family was good to gerg, and so he was good to them. Mission, "gerg meets more of my family" was totally successful. Thanks to my sis, Mary, for the crucial hospitality!

On the drive back, we stopped at Castle Rock for a break and some climbing around. Didn't spot any wildlife, but noted that this leftover island from the ice age was pretty fuggin cool, and strange.

Got a hankering for soup on the way home, stopped at the Longfellow Grill for eats. Both of us sampled a cup of the curried carrot soup, which was very tasty, and fun, since it was served with Goldfish crackers. Gerg ate the cajun chicken apple salad, and I devoured my tilapia tacos (best fish tacos I've had next to my fav fish tacos sold at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market). In warm weather, we sit outside and take advantage of the direct view of the Ol' Mississippi. It's got neighborhood charm with a contemporary atmosphere. Anywho, last night, gerg and I took a spot at the end of the bar, and in walks Jerome, a 49 year-old character....

Jerome proceeds to tell us the following, with just a bit of prodding:1) His "better half" recently died from West Nile after being bit by a mosquito after hurricane Katrina. In an attempt to spare him any pain, she embarked on a cruise with a friend after she discovered she was infected. 10 days later, she died. He was informed by a relative of her death. As a tribute to her, he purchased her house in Longfellow, and had just finished constructing a gigantic heart-shaped inspired terrace out of red granite, and had planted more than 500 daisy and tulip bulbs. We've got the address, so we're gonna check it out.

2) His father worked for the Queen of England, and was entitled to diplomatic passports; likewise was Jerome, who spent 20 years in Europe, spoke 19 languages/dialects, and had a diplomatic passport in association with his father. His training began at a young age at an international school.

3) He has the fourth largest collection of nomadic Arabic textiles in the world.

4) For nine years he worked as a sound engineer for bands such as AC/DC, Hall and Oates, and Jackson Brown.

5) He was contacted by the CIA due to his fluency in Arabic and French.

Hey Jerome, are you for real? Worldly stories that were too amazing and detailed not to be true, yet too fantastical to ever be! Coulda make a living sharing/spinning yarns, and ended up at the Longfellow, sipping curried carrot soup and chewing on fried cheese, sharing stories with two kids from Wisconsin. Not annoying, not pretentious, just sharing his adventures cuz we asked. We like our Southside neighborhood joint, despite some less-than-favorable reflections by other humans.

Broke the news to my family that I would be missing my first family Thanksgiving EVER to head out east to celebrate with human friends (including David and Dre) and visit gerg's human godson, Ferris (he's the monster in green). Family was okay with the news, and said, "Have fun in New York!" We're pumped!